Amid the celebrations for Nico Rosberg and Mercedes on Sunday night, an interesting rumour started doing the rounds regarding Lewis Hamilton.
Reported by Ted Kravitz on Sky Sports F1, it was claimed the Briton had wanted to quit the Brackley-based team following the coming together of the two Silver Arrows at the Spanish Grand Prix back in May.
Hamilton didn’t deny the story when asked by Martin Brundle post-race saying it was ‘private’ and ‘in the past’, however, if true it would go a long way to explaining an observation I’ve made over the course of the season.
When he claimed his third world title in 2015, there was a sense that Lewis had achieved all that he wanted in Formula One, he had matched Senna’s tally and any further success was a bonus in his career.
Then, following the issues that blighted his first few races this year and allowed Rosberg to pull out a lead, his response was somewhat subdued, almost as if he wasn’t bothered about the situation.
Oddly, however, Spain seem to change something in Hamilton’s psyche and this story of wanting to quit may reflect that.
He was said to be unhappy with how the team dealt with the collision between the two drivers in Barcelona. Kravitz would recall how, in the matter of a few days, Pascal Wehrlein was drafted in for the post-race test and how a sudden U-turn was made and Mercedes agreed to a new two-year deal for Rosberg.
Rather than quit, however, Hamilton remained and would up his game winning six of the next seven races, inheriting the championship lead.
Still, however, his demeanour remained passive, saying he didn’t feel as if he was ahead and still coming across as rather unfussed by the championship battle.
Spa and Monza swung the pendulum back into his teammate’s favour and ultimately, the retirement in Malaysia would leave Hamilton too much to do in the final four races.
It wasn’t just his attitude towards the championship, however, all year there has been this feeling that he was at odds with his own team.
It was often indicated that Mercedes were favouring Rosberg and that the swapping of mechanics which took place for this year was having a greater impact than said publicly.
If he was unhappy with the ramifications imposed post-Barcelona then that would only add to that feeling, as would likely what occurred after the last lap contact in Austria.
There was also a Pirelli tyre test which Hamilton backed out of last month. It was claimed a foot injury was the reason for his absence but personally, that never seemed legitimate.
Now there is speculation over what his actions in Abu Dhabi could mean for the Hamilton/ Mercedes relationship.
British tabloids are reporting the 31-year-old may face the sack for deliberately slowing Rosberg into the pack at Yas Marina.
Whether there is any truth to that is unknown, but at least from the radio calls that came in during the heat of battle, Paddy Lowe and Toto Wolff were furious with their driver.
If there is any sort of meaningful response from the Mercedes bosses, then, in my opinion, it would only add fuel to any private thoughts Hamilton still has about leaving the team.
He has too many alternative goals and ambitions in his life to stay at a place where he doesn’t feel happy and arguably doesn’t feel wanted.
There could be interest from former team McLaren and even Ferrari if Lewis wanted to continue his racing career and the fallout from this season will go a long way to determining that, but right now I wouldn’t be surprised if 2017 isn’t just his last year at Mercedes but also his last year in F1.
